


C/Darui Drabble Collection

by FantasticallyFoolishIdea



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Fourth Shinobi War, Pre-Slash, Prompt Fic, Rating May Change, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Warnings May Change, teenagers being idiots, working title is bound to change at some point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-03-29 18:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13932339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasticallyFoolishIdea/pseuds/FantasticallyFoolishIdea
Summary: Collection of C/Darui drabbles based on 50 Prompt Table A overhere.014. daybreak“Try not to fall to your death.”“Better not let me.”With a snort Darui gave his hand a firm squeeze that could have meant either, “Of course not” or “Fuck you”, and counted to three.





	1. 009. Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Working title is a working title and will most definitely be changed at some point in the future but I can't be arsed to think of a better one right now.
> 
> Since there are 50 prompts, there are going to be 50 chapters eventually, but I don't when (if) I'll be able to update, I just wanted to write _something_ , _anything_. I'm in need of practice and this tag is in desperate need of fics so it seemed like a good idea hahaha.^^'
> 
> Come and join me in the Rare Pair Hell that is DaruShi.  
> ... please?
> 
> Additional warnings: somewhat cornier than my usual? like, idek what happened. I just wanna have some fun and mess around with the ship since no one else is currently writing for them. Although "ship" might be a bit generous a term, "canoe" is more like it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had taken barely a week of sharing a bed for Darui to notice that C had the strangest preoccupation with his heartbeat.

It had taken barely a week of sharing a bed for Darui to notice that C had the strangest preoccupation with his heartbeat.

As with most peculiar habits, things had started out innocuously.

It had been something of a surprise to discover that C was not, as Darui had admittedly assumed, the type of pragmatic, eager-to-leave kind of lover who was all cleaned up and halfway out the door the minute the deed was done.

Despite his impatient personality, Darui got the distinct impression that, given the opportunity, C would quite happily content himself with staying in bed, head resting on Darui’s chest and lazily tracing patterns against his naked skin and legs all tangled up for hours until they both eventually had to get up for work in the morning.

Not that Darui minded.

C had been a constant and dependable presence by his side for years. The sound of his breathing slowing down when he inevitably fell asleep and the steady thrum of his chakra network had quickly become a well-loved source of comfort.

Three days had passed by the time Darui first picked up on C’s tendency to stay plastered to his left, despite repeated complaints about him being a “furnace with abs” beforehand.

After another two days, casually noticed that the rhythm C’s fingers usually drummed against his ribs didn’t follow the ticking of his old alarm clock as he’d been assuming up until then, but rather the beat of his own heart.

After Darui realises, he quietly shrugs it off.

Medical-nin’s habits, he supposes and pokes C’s shoulder.

“Oi, any particular reason you’ve been obsessively checking my pulse lately?”

Already half-asleep, C doesn’t even bother to open his eyes. He pinches Darui’s side in retaliation and chuckles to himself at the shrill sound that earns him. He mutters something that sounds a lot like “awful diet” and “myocardial infarction” but the words come out muffled against Darui’s left pectoral and Darui decides to take them as the grudging “I love you” that they are, instead.

(Darui doesn’t remember a whole lot about that mission in Frost Country.)

(He doesn’t know that, for nearly one and a half minutes, he had no heartbeat.)

(C does.)

(And he’ll treasure the sound until the day his own heart gives out.)


	2. 006. Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When C walks out of the academy building carrying a book that looks like it could easily be older than the two of them put together Darui doesn’t react much beyond a lazy wave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *singing* I walk a lonely road / the only one that I have ever known / don't know where it goes / But it's only me and I walk alone – this has got nothing to do with this chapter at all. Just felt like repeating that I'm here all alone in my favourite canoe that is known by the name of DaruShi.
> 
> Totally inconsequential headcanon no one asked for: Darui and C were incorrigible little brats who had no intention of becoming friends whatsoever but ended up getting along too well to not like each other.
> 
> Did I ever mention liking Kid Fics? Because I do. One of my favourite tropes.
> 
> Also, this chapter used to be nearly 1,000 words longer and was going a completely different route but it was also 100% more OOC and nothing about those 1,000 words felt right. So I cut them. Now the pacing's all different (if not completely off) but whatever. I didn't wanna change things anymore because the chapter felt complete at the point where I cut off. Obviously, the conversation wasn't over yet but that's a story for a different day. Maybe.

When C walks out of the academy building carrying a book that looks like it could easily be older than the two of them put together Darui doesn’t react much beyond a lazy wave.

It’s enough to make C change his course, however, and have him flop down next to Darui in the shadow of a tree.

He might be a bit of a smartass and wholly too enthralled with those stuffy books of his, but out of all of their classmates Darui actually finds himself minding C’s presence the least, which is why Darui refrains from going out of his way to shoot him a glare for interrupting his nap.

Not that that would have done much to deter C anyway.

For being a textbook example of a booknerd and – if Darui’s being honest – kind of a squirt too (although Darui really isn’t all that much taller himself), C turned out to be a lot more confident than Darui had first assumed. Stubborn as a mule too, but then, so is Darui and he can’t quite bring himself to judge C for it.

Besides, Darui would be lying through his teeth if he said he hadn’t appreciated that, at the end of their first week at the academy, with the girl next to him still mid-sentence, C had simply up and gathered his belongings and moved to the empty seat next to Darui without so much as a word, stubbornly refusing to be intimidated by the fact that Darui already had been trained by the Third Raikage himself ever since.

And when Darui noticed the pinched expression C always wore in class fading for the first time since they first met, he realised that C’s moving seats had never been intended for _his_ benefit at all.

Given their classmates, it almost instantly endeared C to Darui.

Knowing that nothing but pure annoyance had driven C into getting up and changing seats made it somewhat harder for Darui to pretend to ignore the sudden change in seating arrangements but C had managed to make it easy again with the simple act of opening a book and pretending to ignore Darui right back.

Darui found himself a little floored by the realisation that, _holy hell_ , they might just get along.

Nowadays, Darui knows they do indeed get along just fine and he has even come to somewhat enjoy C’s company.

Unfortunately, he’s also had to learn that C is kind of a prick who’s perfectly fine with ignoring Darui for extended periods of time in favour of sticking his nose in whatever dumb book he’s lugging around this week if left undisturbed.

Which had been fine back when Darui had been just kind-of-tolerating C’s presence for the benefit of having a human alarm clock making sure he wouldn’t be late for class in case he didn’t wake up from his nap in time.

But now that he’s come to actually welcome C sitting with him, Darui finds the notion that a book could make for better company than himself slightly irritating, perhaps even somewhat insulting.

Upon deciding to break the silence, he cracks open his right eye and asks, “Whatcha reading there?”

C’s eyes are dark and very, very wide as he rapidly turns to look at Darui.

The surprise on his face would’ve been quite comical, if it weren’t making Darui suddenly and uncomfortably aware of the fact that this might in fact be the first time he’s ever initiated conversation during all those times C’s come outside to sit with him in the academy’s backyard.

He does not feel guilty per se, but it does take a little more effort than usual to keep his expression impassive when their eyes meet.

Five awkward seconds pass in which they do nothing but blink and stare at each other.

“A book,” C finally answers, but it comes out sounding too confused to have been meant as the snappy retort Darui very deliberately doesn’t interpret it as. Even if he did, he’s still too busy trying to think around the sirens going off in his own head to really fault C for it.

“I see,” is the clever reply his brain supplies him with and the sting of betrayal at his quick wit abandoning him like this hits hard.

“Actually…”

With a visible shake of his head, C closes the book and puts it down next to him, before swiftly twisting his body into a kneeling position right next to Darui, fixing him with the solemn look of someone trying very hard to hide their enthusiasm.

It’s a ridiculous look for a future shinobi to be wearing and Darui does absolutely _not_ feel something as corny as affection hitting him over the head upon seeing it.

He forcibly reminds himself of C cleanly decapitating three practice dummies with a short sword the day before and until the word “sweet” finally stops popping up in association with his fellow ninja.

The endeavour isn’t a complete failure, which, to Darui, makes it as good as a partial success and it’s enough for his mind to be temporarily put at ease.

“I found this,” sitting back on his knees, C vaguely gestures at the book, “in the library. Seems like a code of conduct of sorts. I don’t think it’s Kumo issue, though, so I was wondering why they’d keep it.”

Dubious, Darui quickly looks back and fourth between C and the book with one eyebrow pulled up before sitting up and reaching out.

“May I?” he asks and C hums in assent as he motions for Darui to go ahead and take the book.

Books hold little interest for Darui. They all look the same and he doesn’t quite see the appeal of sitting still and staring at a piece of paper for several hours at a time. If there’s something he wants to know or a story he wants to hear he can always go and ask one of the adults. Dodai in particular has a knack for story-telling and Darui likes visiting him every now and then.

Unlike Darui’s text books, this book seems to have seen a fair amount of use back in its day. Darui brushes his fingers over the faded character for _endurance_ – the same that also adorns the academy gates – and wonders briefly how many other people have done the same.

Beneath _endurance_ there’s an engraving that looks like a wonky spiral someone attached a beak to. Darui looks up at C again, as if to ask him about something but decides against revealing that he slept through yet another geography lesson. Otherwise C might actually stop letting him copy his homework like he’s been threatening one of these days.

He quickly adds a mental note to read up on _torigakure_ later and opens the book.

In the centre of the first page, Darui reads “The Way of the Ninja – Rules for Shinobi” and shares another look with C, who only shrugs noncommittally.

Kumo had its own code of conduct just like any other Hidden Village but people rarely felt compelled to write entire books about what could be boiled down to _think fast, strike first, dodge quick, die last_.

To Darui at least, it seems a little excessive, especially when several rules turn out to be what he thinks should be common sense.

_A shinobi must follow their commander’s instructions._

_A shinobi must prepare before it is too late to._

_A shinobi must never show any weakness._

“What the hell, C. Why would they write that down? It’s obvious,” he complains, his face turned up in that particular brand of indignation only found in eight-year-olds who’re slowly realising that the world is in dire need of guidance and they’re the only person right for the job.

He’s a little put-out when C doesn’t voice his agreement.

C has been leaning over his shoulder for a while now, a contemplative look on his face. He hums in consideration but Darui already can tell that no matter what’s about to come out of C’s mouth, C’s going to sound like a smartass and Darui won’t like it anyway.

“Well, they’re obvious, yeah. But they’re still _rules_ and people won’t know them if there’s nowhere to look them up. Besides, it’s not like Kumo doesn’t have similar rules. I think I got the Kumo issue somewhere around–” C says but drifts off in favour of rummaging through his bag.

 _Spoken like a true smartass_ , Darui thinks, somewhat triumphantly, but it’s not entirely uncharitable. He can’t quite help being impressed by the thoroughness his new friend’s demonstrating here.

From his right, he hears C curse under his breath and has to suppress a wry grin.

Nevermind that, then. C can pretend and act responsible all he wants, he’s still just enough of a ditz to be likeable.

“I must have left it in class,” C sighs eventually and reverts to his earlier position, nearly plastering himself to Darui’s shoulder again. “Anyway, thing is, if it’s not written down, people might forget. Or they might start arguing about it. Like, you don’t throw away the scroll just because you learnt the jutsu. What if there’s something you need to look up? Or you want to give it to someone else?”

All fair points, but Darui still puffs out his cheeks for a second. “Yeah, sure. But people can just _talk_ about that! Why write it all down? Having to read all of that is _boring_.”

C gives Darui’s shoulder a light nudge. “You’re just lazy.”

“You’re a nerd, your opinion doesn’t count.”

With a particularly loud huff, Darui turns another page in the book and it’s a little gratifying to see C immediately foregoing any attempt at retribution in favour of focusing what’s written on the page.

“A shinobi must never show their tears,” he reads out loud and Darui physically feels his brain grinding halt.

“That’s bull,” he says, maybe a little too loud, definitely too fast, before he can stop himself and C’s curious expression tells Darui that there’s no way he didn’t notice.

Darui hates that he already knows that whenever C pulls his eyebrows up in that particularly incredulous fashion it’s all just an act to distract from the grin he’s desperately trying to hide.

“Huh, and why’d you think that?”

C’s voice is honey and molasses and everything saccharine and it turns Darui’s stomach as he’s scrambling for something to say.

“Because it _is_ ,” he eventually repeats, perhaps a sliver too forceful, because it sounds petulant even to his own ears. To buy some time, he points at his own eyebrows and says, “You know, if you pull them up any higher they might just fly right off your face.” which throws C off enough to do away with the smug expression he’d been wearing.

It doesn’t take long for a contemplative expression to take it’s place. “You don’t wanna talk about it,” C says flatly, and Darui once again finds himself privately commending C’s perceptiveness, even if it’s making his life so much more difficult right now.

For the fraction of a second, C’ eyes gloss over and he looks like he’s not all _there_ and it’s an unsettling look to be faced with but before Darui even has time to worry C blinks and it’s gone. 

When his eyes focus on Darui again, his expression has mellowed noticeably. “You’re chakra’s going all crazy.”

 _So that’s how he does it_ , Darui thinks and only just barely manages to stop himself from shaking his head in disapproval.

How have none of their teachers noticed the sensory abilities yet?

“I didn’t mean to pry, sorry.”

C’s grin looks kind of strange to Darui but that’s mostly because he’s just never seen C look bashful before and he finds that, no, C’s wrong, just this once he might actually _want_ to talk about it.

Several seconds of silence passe until Darui takes a deep breath and decides to get it over with.

“Old Man Raikage would have said it is.”

Judging by the sharp inhale next to him, the answer was not what C’d been expecting. He turns to look at C and the look of pure scandal on his face nearly has him choke on his own tongue when a bark of laughter escapes him.

Right, C would remember the Third Raikage as the man of legend who faced an entire army on his own.

Darui remembered him as, well, Old Man Raikage.

“Old Man… Raikage?” C asks, and it comes out sounding a little faint and perhaps slightly star-struck.

“Wait, you didn’t-”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I know. I just kinda–”

“How’d you manage to forget about that? Sensei never shuts up about it!”

“Like it’s something I should remember?”

And now they’re both laughing and Darui has to quietly rectify his previous assessment.

They’re not getting along fine. They might just get along great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel like making my day? Kudos and comments make a writer happy!
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](https://fantasticallyfoolishidea.tumblr.com).


	3. 025. boxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As he was lying on the floor, aching and immobilised, scorn was slowly settling in Darui’s gut as he contemplated the series of increasingly ill-advised life choices that had lead him to this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to take weeks to post a new chapter but somehow it happened anyway. I finished typing this literally three weeks ago. Then I re-wrote it. Then I re-wrote it again. So at some point there existed like three different versions of the second half of this chapter – this one being the only one that survived the editing process ahahaha xD

As he was lying on the floor, aching and immobilised, scorn was slowly settling in Darui’s gut as he contemplated the series of increasingly ill-advised life choices that had lead him to this point.

Hundreds of successful missions to his name and _cardboard_ turned out to be the thing to bring him down.

Half on top of and half buried under a heap of moving boxes of varying sizes, Darui’s mood was understandably sour.

When the subject of premature deaths came up, he’d never imagined his own to turn out quite as anti-climactic as this. However, living through a war, the would-be end of the world and Killer B’s most recent _enka_ rap concert apparently had thoroughly drained whatever reserves of luck he’d had left.

If this was it for him, Darui had but one regret. He really shouldn’t have gone straight for the rattiest pair of slippers he’d been able to find today. Nobody looked dignified in slippers, least of all a dead body.

He took a sort of grim satisfaction from knowing that the sight might give a pathologist something to laugh about but upon further contemplation decided that that thought really wasn’t all that comforting after all.

So much for getting the living room cleared out before nightfall.

In the far corner of the room one of the large scrolls he’d planned on sealing the moving boxes in fell over, whirling up a cloud of dust, and Darui groaned.

Great. Just _great_.

While he waited for the initial burst of pain to subside, he entertained himself with counting the chips in the ceiling of C’s apartment.

In total, there were sixty-two and Darui was wrecking his brain trying to imagine how C could have possibly accomplished that in the four years he’d spent living here.

Or how he intended to get his deposit back once his landlady discovered them.

He wasn’t quite sure whether the fall or the thought of the old shrew were to blame for the sudden onset of his headache but for good measure he quietly cursed at both.

The old lady had never liked shinobi and scrambled for every excuse she could find to make their lives difficult. Once she’d realised Darui had a set of spare keys, he too had earned his spot on her blacklist

Back in the day, in what Darui strongly suspected had been a temporary lapse of judgement in a moment of desperation, C had resorted to bribing her with promises of heavily discounted arthritis medication before she would even consider renting to a shinobi.

So far, Darui had graciously refrained from joking about the peculiar arrangement but still had almost walked into a wall the first time he heard the custodian casually mention ‘grandma’s drug dealer’.

Back then, C had appreciated neither the moniker nor the cackling. Actually, he still didn’t appreciate the occasional chuckle Darui got out of it. Darui would have been chuckling right now, if it weren’t for that one _moving_ box digging into his ribs.

Laughing kinda hurt at the moment.

So did breathing, for that matter.

Judging by the shadows in the room, the sun was probably just minutes from setting. C was probably finishing up in the office right about now and would be returning soon.

Darui briefly contemplated freeing himself but his position was awkward and the boxes heavy. Chances were, he’d be able to dislodge the cardboard boxes on top of him but given his luck today he’d probably pull three different muscles in the process and he’d rather not injure himself any further than he already had. Besides, it didn’t seem worth the effort when C would be home in a couple of minutes anyway.

On the other hand, a decent-sized surge of chakra would have the boxes scattering in every which direction too. That, however, would almost certainly alert C to the fact that something was up and Darui’d rather C didn’t end up worrying unnecessarily.

What’s more, Darui dimly remembered putting the vase that C kept on his coffee table in the box that was currently digging into his gallbladder. If it had survived the fall, then a strong blast of chakra would almost certainly break the porcelain and while Darui himself didn’t see the appeal of putting slowly decaying plant life on display, C seemed to do so and Darui respected that.

With a sigh, he let his head fall back.

Waiting it was, then.

Whatever. He was a patient man and there was no reason for him to rush anything.

When his left leg fell asleep, Darui wiggled his toes and set about ignoring it.

When his right leg fell asleep, he ignored that too and started meditating.

By the time his left arm was threatening to fall asleep as well, Darui had been on his back for a grand total of five minutes and he finally admitted that maybe this situation was less than ideal after all.

The subtle shift in the air that followed the deactivation of chakra wards and the jingle of keys being inserted into a lock felt a lot like salvation.

“I’m home,” C called from the hall and the door slammed shut behind him with a resounding thud.

Any other day that alone would have been enough to have the landlady knocking with a noise complaint the day after.

Not much of a problem anymore, though, since they planned to have the apartment emptied out by tonight anyway.

Darui cracked a grin. Chances were, C’d had the same idea.

Sandals fell to the floor one after another and Darui could hear the shift of fabric while C was shimmying out of his flak jacket.

“Did anything happen?” He sounded neither particularly concerned nor curious but his voice was getting louder. “Your chakra’s practically reeking of frustra-”

To C’s credit, he did not actually laugh out loud at the sight of Darui. The sound that escaped him, however, could only be described as horrifying parody of a squawk.

Darui appreciated the effort but as he was forced to witness C’s pathetic excuse of a pokerface crumble, he’d have appreciated it a lot more if C stopped fooling himself (because he sure as hell wasn’t fooling anyone else) and just _laughed_.

Darui had no illusions about his current predicament.

Definitely one of the more unflattering situations he’d got himself stuck in and as the Raikage’s right-hand man he got stuck in _a lot_ of those. He couldn’t fault C for finding humour in it. Darui most definitely wouldn’t have had the decency to keep his mouth shut had their positions been reversed.

“Darui,” C said after his breathing returned to normal, “what on earth happened here?”

Incredulity far outweighed any amount of exasperation he might have felt.

With some difficulty, Darui craned his neck until C entered his field of vision. Despite his tone, his eyes were still bright with amusement and the corner of his mouth turned up in a crooked grin. Darui had had years to get used to the sight, his heart still skipped a beat or two.

“Welcome back,” he answered eventually. “I was just taking a break.”

C didn’t say anything but somehow he still managed to convey _Please do go on. You have my undivided attention and I’m very interested in whatever harebrained explanation you’re about to serve me_ all in one single expression.

Darui attempted something vaguely reminiscent of a shrug. On top of his chest, a box shifted ominously and he became uncomfortably aware of his aching ribs.

“New form of acupressure. Doctor recommended it.”

“Did he also recommend wrecking half of my living room while you’re at it?” C pushed off the doorframe and sauntered towards him. Darui’s gaze followed him as he dodged some stray pieces of clutter until he eventually came to a stop behind his head, hands resting on his hips.

“To be fair, it’s great stress relief. Unfortunately, I got held up.”

C looked Darui up and down to assess the situation, figure out what had happened and how to proceed.

Not far from Darui’s feet, he spotted a misshapen box that seemed to have crumpled under the weight of an undetermined item – probably a couple of other boxes, C figured. From the look of things Darui had stood in the wrong place at the wrong time and taken at least one more stack with him on his way down.

C’s expression turned thoughtful as he mumbled, “Yeah, I can tell.” With one smooth movement, he dropped into a crouch, putting himself and Darui almost at eye-level and Darui caught a glimpse of the crease between his eyebrows.

“Any numbness?”

“Legs fell asleep a while ago but I assume that’s not what you’re asking.”

C snorted softly in an attempt to cover his wry grin. “It’s not. Nausea? Dizziness?”

“No and no. Slight headache, though.”

The grin disappeared again and the crease deepened. “Give me a second.”

Darui noticed that C was gathering chakra in his right hand before he brought it up to press against his forehead. The foreign chakra entered his chakra network and followed the pathways until it had completed one full circulation. After the chakra got back to his forehead, C withdrew it. His hand lingered a few seconds longer.

After a moment’s contemplation, he spoke up. “Headache’s gonna go away on it’s own soon enough. A couple of bruises here and there and contusions to ribs five through seven on the left.” Nothing to be concerned about then, but Darui could have figured that out himself by the way C’s shoulders had relaxed noticeably.

“No comment about my thick skull saving me?”

C rolled his eyes but grinned nevertheless. “No need to kick a man who’s down.”

“Who would’ve thought. Peacetime’s barely just started and you’re getting soft already.”

“Oh shut it,” C said dryly and lifted a finger to give Darui’s neck a quick poke, right on the pulse point beneath his ear. Darui considered swatting at it or catching C’s hand but before he had the chance to free even one of his hands, the pressure was gone and C rested his arms on his knees instead. “You love me anyway.”

“I might have had the misfortune of getting attached somewhere along the line,” Darui mumbled and let his head fall backwards until it made contact with cardboard. Behind him, C gave a noncommittal shrug and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet a couple of times.

It was an old game they played that had very little to do with any real antagonism and a whole lot with not wanting to admit the extent to which they cared. Loss was a constant companion in their line of work and personal attachments a liability. Even though foreign relations had improved immensely in the aftermath of the war, neither Darui nor C had left their position as the Raikage’s bodyguards. If worse came to worst they still had to be prepared to give their lives in protection of A.

There’d always been a morbid sense of reassurance in knowing that, when the time came, the other would be fine on his own.

Nowadays, it was mostly force of habit and a questionable sense of humour that made them keep up the charade.

Darui would have been content to stay here and keep staring at C’s face some more, but as it was he was still buried under a mess of his own making and rapidly losing feeling in his legs.

C seemed to notice his discomfort and for a split-second his eyes widened and in turn Darui’s own expression grew sheepish.

“Hey sorry, but could you–”

Suddenly in a rush, C pushed off the ground and grabbed the first moving box he could reach.

“Right on it!”

By the time the last moving box had been sealed and the last scroll had been carried over into the new apartment it was just after two o’ clock in the morning and they hadn’t even managed to removethe new mattress from its packaging before falling asleep right on top of it.

They didn’t realise it straightaway, not when they woke up barely three hours later – cold and stiff and with cricks in their necks – nor when they spent half an hour rifling through unmarked moving boxes in desperate search of anything even vaguely resemblant of a blanket, but when they finally fell back asleep wrapped in their winter cloaks, two bath towels and a tablecloth the new place was already starting to feel a lot like home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... err, yeah. Apparently Darui and C are human disasters. Whoops.^^'
> 
> I'm still trying to figure out how to best go about writing their dynamic (and what to do in terms of characterisation). I wish there was more canon material to work with. T-T Give it a couple more chapters, I'll get this sorted out. Eventually.
> 
> Also, I really wanna tackle the idea of C's crabby landlady in a different fic at some point. The concept amuses me immensely.
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](https://fantasticallyfoolishidea.tumblr.com)! :D
> 
>  **edit 24/03/19:** I know you can't hear me but just so you know, I'm screaming. [This chapter has art now!](https://twitter.com/ACEsahi/status/1109933760827535362) The amazing [hyouta](http://hyouta.tumblr.com/) drew a piece based on this chapter. Go check out her art! It's great!


	4. 014. daybreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 014\. daybreak
> 
> “Try not to fall to your death.”
> 
> “Better not let me.”
> 
> With a snort Darui gave his hand a firm squeeze that could have meant either, “Of course not” or “Fuck you”, and counted to three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely _did not_ intend to take so long to post the new chapter. Writing this took like three days but the editing... oh god. I swear when I "finished" writing this it was like 2,7k words, then I started editing and somehow we got to 4,5k and damn. If this were a standalone it'd now be my single longest fanfic.
> 
> I know I mention C's sensory abilities, like, all the time but they are so much fun to play around with.
> 
> I didn't specify precise ages this time but I tend to think this one takes place when they're about 16 or 17-ish.

“You sure this is a good idea?” C called from somewhere behind him.

Frowning, Darui paused and looked down.

Right in front of him, yesterday’s rain had washed away part of the trail, creating a small fissure. He contemplated jumping to the other side but decided to wait up instead. He hadn’t noticed C fall behind and he’d rather not risk losing him completely.

Despite being intimately familiar with the trails around Kumo even Darui would have trouble finding him again out here.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he turned around.

“Sure.” He squinted, his eyes moving back and forth as he looked for a sign of movement in the dark. When he spotted C’s silhouette moving towards him some of the tension in his shoulders eased. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

C finally came to a stop next to him. His breathing was slightly heavier and his posture not quite as straight as usual but Darui tactfully refrained from bringing it up. He made a mental note to dial back his walking speed though.

“Well, for one,” C made a conscious effort not to wince as he straightened back up, “it’s too dark. There could be a cliff right here. I could–”

“C, don’t–”

“–walk right off and–uagh!”

C had intended to emphasise the statement by stomping his foot a couple of times. In a burst of alarm, Darui had reached out and yanked C back by the elbow before he could bring his foot back down.

For a second, they both swayed precariously but didn’t fully lose their balance.

Irritated, and more than a little spooked, C pulled his arm out of Darui’s grasp and blustered.

“The hell was that about? You nearly gave me heart attack!”

“Sorry. It’s just…” Darui could hear the muffled tapping of C’s fingertips drumming against the jut of his hip. He raised a hand to scratch at his nape. “There’s a cliff there.”

C blanched, his face a rather comical mixture of horror and exasperation. In a display of what to Darui looked like excessive theatrics, C threw out his arms and let himself fall back against the steep rock face to the left of the path.

A quiet snicker close-by had him narrowing his eyes at the dark mass vaguely resembling Darui.

“ _This_ ,” he hissed, “is how people get killed. Are you trying to get me killed?”

Darui – the jerk – had the audacity to laugh, even though to C the act of committing grievous bodily harm seemed less despicable the further up the mountain they got. He used the lull in conversation as an opportunity to send a couple more venomous glares somewhere in Darui’s general direction. C doubted Darui could actually see any of them but at this point it was a matter of principle.

Darui took a fairly deep breath which C quickly identified as the ill-disguised attempt at stifling further chuckling that it was.

“I’m not trying to get you killed,” Darui enunciated slowly and his tone was just earnest enough to make C wonder if, perhaps, he’d been giving Darui too hard of a time for the last two hours. He hadn’t known about Darui’s apparent enthusiasm for early morning hikes. “ _But_ –”

Nevermind.

“‘Not trying to get you killed. _But_ …?’” C echoed incredulously. The lilt of C’s voice could easily have been taken as a sign of good humour but Darui picked up on the edge underneath.

“– _but_ ,” Darui repeated, “your attitude is starting to make me reconsider.” Darui leant in just far enough to see C purse his lips. Darui snorted in amusement and C crossed his arms. His eyes narrowed and Darui took that as his cue to remove himself from C’s personal space again.

“I don’t get what your problem is.”

Rocking back on his heels, Darui buried his hands in his pockets once again and lowered his gaze to the ground between them for a moment. When he looked back up, his expression had sobered somewhat.

“You’re not actually mad, are you?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

If C was, then this entire excursion would have thoroughly missed it’s mark and they might as well head home now before they started arguing in earnest.

C mulled over his answer for a moment but his shoulders were sagging already as he shifted his weight from one legt to the other. With a sigh, he shook his head.

“I’m not mad.”

“There’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”

“Kinda, yeah.”

Having long since grown accustomed to C’s habitual bluntness, Darui found it exceedingly strange when C was actively attempting not to be.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, just–” C briefly licked his lips in an attempt to stall and Darui could pinpoint the exact moment C gave up trying not to be blunt about it and decided to just get it over with.

“Do you even realise how terrifying you are?”

The distinct sound of awe in C’s voice gave Darui the impression that even though C probably hadn’t intended for it to be taken as a compliment it wasn’t meant to be an insult either and Darui didn’t quite now what to make of that.

Because yes, he had met people who had been genuinely terrified and that comment left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.

Despite his hackles rising, Darui pressed his lips into a thin line and swallowed. It took more effort than expected to keep his voice down.

“Care to elaborate?”

C grimaced and Darui belatedly remembered to pull his chakra back under wraps. Neither of them acknowledged the momentary lapse of control but Darui took another step backwards and C shook his head as if to clear away a trick of the imagination.

Realising he’d hit a nerve, C deliberately calmed his own chakra flow. When it registered as little more than a quiet hum in the back of his awareness he let some of it bleed through to mingle with Darui’s. Slowly, he took a step forward and reached out, wrapping a hand around Darui’s wrist to keep him from taking another step back.

Feeling quite sheepish, C grinned apologetically.

“Perhaps I should re-phrase that?”

“Perhaps you should.”

Darui’s reaction was understandably terse but C gave his wrist a conciliatory squeeze. Then he took a few moments to think of a different way of putting it. When he did, his eyes lit up for a second before schooled his expression back into a look of seriousness.

“Could you try to stop thinking like the Third’s boy wonder for a minute and put yourself in an ordinary person’s shoes instead?” When a crooked grin threatened to break out, he bit his lower lip.

Dubiously, Darui raised an eyebrow and waited for C to start making sense. He momentarily forgot that the gesture would be completely lost on C.

“It’s pitch-dark and – regardless of _your_ feelings on the matter–” C shot a pointed look at where he guessed Darui’s face to be,“this is not an easy climb. _Objectively_.”

Darui found himself thinking back to several instances where he had indeed claimed as such. Feeling slightly bashful, he scratched the back of his neck.

C sensed some of the tension draining from Darui and he loosened his hold on his wrist. “And yet you’re just casually marching along like it’s nothing.”

The tips of his ears grew warmer and, for the first time since he left the comfort of his home, C was grateful for the poor lighting as he muttered, “What I’m getting at is it’s impressive. _Really impressive_ even. But, and I _hate_ to admit it, sometimes it’s difficult keeping up with you.”

Darui got the distinct impression that it wasn’t just the hike they were talking about anymore.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, _oh_.” With a dry chuckle, C averted his eyes and distracted himself by trying to pinpoint the distant lights of the Hidden Cloud. Despite the crescent moon and the stars, their faint glow remained one of the only landmarks he could make out.

Without the usual visual distractions, the steady thrum of Darui’s chakra right in front of him occupied a much bigger presence in front of his mind’s eye. It was more difficult to let it fade into the back of his awareness too.

“Sorry.” Darui’s brows furrowed. “You wanna turn back?”

C only narrowly avoided laughing out loud. “After making it all the way up here? Not particularly.” Well-meant as it was, at this point the suggestion seemed nothing short of absurd to him. When Darui didn’t answer right away he could just picture the skeptical look Darui was levelling at him.

C snorted in amusement.

“Finally feel ready to tell me where we’re going, by the way?”

“Just a little longer,” Darui chided gently and C responded with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. Yet another exchange they had hashed and rehashed already. There was no malice behind the action though. “Trust me one more time?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Great.”

Darui twisted the wrist C was still holding on to until his palm was facing upwards, a silent prompt for C to take it.

“Part of the path was washed away just to your left. We’ll take three steps and then I’ll need you to jump far enough to clear about five feet lengthwise.

“You,” C replied, perhaps a tad less snidely and considerably more fondly than he’d intended, “are an absolute nutcase.” Following Darui’s lead, he closed his fingers around Darui’s and positioned himself next to him. “On the count of three, then?”

“Try not to fall to your death.”

“Better not let me.”

With a snort Darui gave his hand a firm squeeze that could have meant either, “Of course not” or “Fuck you”, and counted to three.

Then they pushed off.

For a brief second, with nothing but solid blackness to their front, back, and underneath, C was acutely aware of the adrenaline pumping through his veins while his brain struggled to catch up with the fact that he wasn’t actually jumping to his death. Probably.

They came to a skidding halt on the other side. Overbalancing, they fell over in a massive pile of flailing limbs, teenage idiocy and dirt.

The tumultuous impact was followed by a moment of stunned silence and for an instant C genuinely thought he’d died. Something of that must have shown on his face because next to him Darui was seized by a bark of laughter.

In a temporary fit of insanity, C joined in.

Darui made futile attempt to stifle his laughter by burying his face into C’s shoulder but it did little to actually drown out the sound.

“Shrieked like a frightened barn owl!” he wheezed. His efforts were rewarded with an elbow to the ribs that, thoroughly missing it’s mark, ended up buried an inch deep in mud instead.

The failed attempt at his spleen just made Darui laugh harder.

Somewhat light-headed himself, C twisted his arm and grabbed a hold of the first thing within reach and waited for the ground to stop spinning out of control. If he ended up leaving mud tracks all over Darui’s shirt front then that was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Slowly, the star’s stopped swaying and returned to their proper positions in the night sky.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Darui asked eventually.

Grimacing at the amount of dirt he could feel spilling down the back of his shirt, C sat up and shook his head. More dirt went flying everywhere and Darui pressed his eyes shut to avoid the worst of it. When C was done, Darui pointedly cleared his throat.

“I’m fine,” C croaked. “Peachy.” C was fairly sure, he’d swallowed at least half a pound of gravel. “Totally didn’t fear for my life.”

“Of course not,” Darui said dryly. With his thumb, he rubbed the small indents C’s nails had left on his other hand. Rolling his eyes, he huffed in amusement and proceeded to shuffle his legs back underneath him. Then he pushed himself off the ground, provoking yet another rainfall of dirt and gravel.

Back on his feet, Darui extended a hand to C. He was about to retract it when he remembered that C probably wouldn’t be able to see it and, therefore, nearly fell right over again when C grabbed it after all and pulled himself up.

Right. Even if seeing was a problem, sensing was a different matter.

For his age, Darui had exceptional chakra reserves. In terms of chakra detection, he probably couldn’t have made it easier for C to pinpoint his location if he put on an bright yellow jumpsuit and fired flares every couple of steps.

But while large chakra reserves certainly had their perks, the Third, his former academy teachers and occasionally even C, frequently got on his case for his sloppy control. When he wasn’t paying full attention, his own chakra tended to drown out nearby signatures.

He regularly forgot that C’s – or even a non-sensor’s – perception of chakra networks was much more nuanced than his own.

Even directly in front of him, C’s presence was barely a faint, albeit familiar, flicker at the edge of his consciousness. Darui had to actively suppress his own chakra to properly pick up on his position

Conversely, C had once let it slip, that on a good day, with few distractions he could pick up Darui’s chakra from several towns away.

It had baffled him when he’d learnt about it and continued to do so to this day.

C thanked him briefly and turned away to dust himself off.

In the meantime, Darui tried to make out the position of the moon behind the shreds of clouds cutting across the sky. Once he found it, he did some quick mental maths and after a moment’s contemplation he turned to face C again.

“We should get going.”

Dubiously, C looked at the sky as well but he wasn’t sure what exactly had captured Darui’s interest up there.

“The weather’s gonna hold for at least a couple more hours. What’s with the hurry all of a sudden?”

“Nothing in particular. Though we might have to pick up the pace a little.” Darui buried his hands in his pockets with a shrug and started walking.

“C’mon, we’ll be late!” he called when C didn’t follow immediately.

C remained rooted to his spot while he attempted to follow Darui’s reasoning.

“Late? For nothing in particular? Darui, you’re not making any–”

When C realised Darui wasn’t slowing down, he cursed under his breath. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, he jogged after him.

“Damn it, Darui! You’re doing it again! Wait up!”

Despite hearing C’s footsteps draw nearer, Darui nearly lashed out when a hand unexpectedly seized his forearm from behind.

Upon realising that it was C the appendage was attached to, he exhaled audibly and forced his shoulders to relax.

C was looking far to smug for his own good for having caught Darui off-guard. Several beats passed while they were staring at each other. Twice, Darui caught his own gaze getting stuck on the crooked line of C’s smirk.

He narrowed his eyes and C’s grin only widened in response.

“Hey, C.”

“Yeah?”

“What… do you think you’re doing?”

C’s grin had now reached shit-eating proportions. Darui’s own gaze darkened automatically.

“Making sure I don’t get left behind while you go and storm a mountain.” He slipped his hand into Darui’s as if it were the only logical thing to do. “Shall we?”

Darui had had every intention of giving a pointed retort but his gut did the strangest flip-flop that made the words get stuck right there in his throat.

Swallowing past the lump, he glowered and tugged at C’s hand.

“Let’s just go.”

They spent the next couple of minutes walking in silence. The pace Darui set was brisk, but manageable, and he lead them up the winding mountain path without hesitation.

The closer they got to the top the more apparent it became to Darui that C must have got caught up in a train of thought at some point and was now mulling over the pros and cons of actually voicing it out.

He was about to ask if something was bothering him, but C was quicker to speak.

“Hey. Darui.”

“Hm?”

“How often _did_ they make you climb that mountain?”

Darui took note of emphasis and hummed, quiet and low in his throat.

He rarely felt compelled to talk about life before the academy and C, despite his curious nature, rarely asked.

“Who?” Darui pulled up his eyebrows, feigning confusion. C fixed him with a flat stare. Sighing, Darui ran a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his head.

“About three, maybe four times?”

C sent a dubious glance Darui’s way that trailed from his face to their joined hands, down to the winding footpath they still hadn’t lost despite less than ideal circumstances.

“A month?” he asked.

Stepping around a particularly large rock, Darui scoffed.

“Make that ‘a week’ and you might be getting closer to the real number.”

Rather than look at him with an expression of shock or astonishment, C looked down and nodded to himself as if Darui had just confirmed a hypothesis of his. Darui became uncomfortably aware of the fact that he’d been baited.

He narrowed his eyes at C to let him know that his little scheme had been exposed and that he thoroughly disapproved. In a lousy imitation of innocence, C widened his eyes and tilted his head. Darui scoffed and gave him a nudge with his elbow, to which C retaliated with a gentle bump of his shoulder and a mollifying crinkle of the eye.

The entire exchange lasted less than three seconds. When it was over, Darui’s gaze got caught on the streak of mud still stuck on C’s cheek. While he suppressed a chuckle, he nearly missed when C asked another question.

“Even in the dark?”

Darui shook his head and focused on the trail ahead again.

“Not at first, no.”

Averting his eyes as well, C frowned and hummed his acknowledgement. Darui had expected more questions to follow but C seemed content to be left alone with his thoughts once again and Darui was happy to drop the conversation too.

This high up in the mountains, wildlife was scarce and even the most ambitious of climbers would only just be starting their ascent. Right now, the crunch of gravel underneath their feet was the only sound.

In the distance, slivers of grey and green were stretching across the horizon. When he noticed, C stopped to look at the changing sky, accidentally jerking Darui off-balance.

“Sun’s coming up already,” he remarked somewhat absentmindedly.

“Already?”

Wordlessly, C let got of Darui’s hand to fold his arms in fron of his chest and nodded in a direction somewhere vaguely to the east. Darui’s jaw tightened as his gaze followed the movement of his head.

C was waiting for a cue of Darui’s on how to proceed when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Shifting his weight, he leant to the side until he could see past Darui’s head.

He squinted until the yellow of one of the flags the Hidden Cloud used as summit markers swam into shape.

When an idea struck him, he smirked and placed a hand on Darui’s shoulder to get his attention.

“You know what would probably help us cut down on time?”

Raising an eyebrow, Darui turned to face him.

“I’m all ears.”

With a slap to his back, C disappeared in a flash of light and, within the same second, reappeared twenty feet ahead. “Race you to the top!”

Then he took off running.

By the time Darui’s brain caught up with the challenge, C had already gained several precious seconds on him. With a huff halfway between irritation and amusement, Darui channeled chakra to the soles of his feet and followed suit.

C sensed Darui’s pursuit before he heard him. The shock wave of the first burst of chakra almost made him miss a step but he regained his balance easily enough and picked up the pace.

What followed felt a lot like trying to outrun a storm surge after getting dropped in a dried up riverbed.

For having had a bad start, Darui was catching up fast. C channelled more chakra to his feet, lengthening his strides.

When he concentrated, he could feel the serrated edges of foreign raiton-infused chakra lap at his heels. The faint prickle of electricity made the hair at the back of his neck stand up.

While he prepared to vault over a boulder obstructing part of the path, C gathered a small amount of chakra in his hands before he jumped. Pushing off the top of the boulder with his palms the energy from the chakra release was enough to keep him in the air for several seconds.

As he twisted back into an upright on the way down, he was laughing in exhilaration.

Behind him another burst of chakra shook the earth, and C noticed a second pair of footsteps barely a second away. Entering the final bend, he risked a short glance over his shoulder to shoot Darui a provocative grin which Darui matched with one of his own.

The flagpole was almost within reach now.

Still a good three feet ahead and mere steps from the goal, C was already extending his hand when Darui made a split-second decision and _leapt_.

For an instant, C thought that a mountain lion had latched on to his back and he was going to die.

Then, said mountain lion crashed into him and C, having had the air thoroughly knocked out of him, found himself forced to revise his previous assessment. His assailant quite obviously was an mountain _elephant_.

The momentum of said elephant made C lose his footing and together they went down, tumbling through the dirt and past the flagpole that had been almost close enough to touch.

_At least it’s a nice smelling elephant_ , his brain provided helpfully. He let his head drop backwards and he surrendered himself to the bright spots dancing before his eyes.

“You,” C wheezed, his tone somewhere between accusation and a soul is leaving its body through the left nostril.

“You,” he tried again, but he had to inhale twice more until his lungs inflated properly, “so would’ve lost that one.”

For good measure, he added, “Dirty cheat.”

Darui’s reply was lost somewhere in the bunched up fabric of C’s shirt but he suspected that he was saying something along the lines of C being a hypocrite of the highest caliber and the only reason he didn’t lose more decisively was that C had had a head start about a mile wide.

Slowly, tentatively, Darui opened and closed his hands several times until he figured out that it was C’s shirt he’d been clutching. His grip relaxed and his knuckles came to rest against C’s flanks which, thankfully, remained stationary. Unlike the ground underneath.

The cold mountain air was nipping at an exposed strip of skin on C’s stomach. Further up, Darui’s warm breath was filtering though his shirt. Goosebumps rose on his arms. C wiggled his shoulders experimentally and grimaced when he felt a rock digging into one of them. This was getting uncomfortable fast.

“Any plans on getting up any time soon?” he asked.

“No.”

Since Darui showed no intention of moving, C briefly contemplated flicking his temple. He lifted his hand but found himself lacking in spite. His hand spent two seconds hovering awkwardly in the air before he settled for running his fingers through his hair instead.

“Fine. Any plans on letting me up, then?”

“In a minute.”

So much for being in a hurry, C thought to himself. In passing he pondered the merits of following Darui’s example and just never move again. But that rock was still digging into his shoulder and Darui’s weight felt as if someone had dropped a sand sack on top of him.

With a fond roll of his eyes, C sighed and reached for Darui’s right arm.

In a series of quick, decisive movements, he pulled the arm across his chest and off to the side, wedged both feet against Darui’s hips and raised his own to give himself more room to manoeuvre. Hooking one leg behind Darui’s back, he grabbed a fistful of the back of Darui’s shirt with one hand and, angling his body, hooked his other arm around Darui’s left knee.

With one final, forceful jerk of his body, and using his legs as a pendulum, he reversed their positions.

Darui grunted as his back hit the ground. “Just so we’re clear, I _let_ you do that,” Darui groaned as he shot C a look of irritation that was met with an impish grin.

“Mhm, keep telling yourself that.” Steadying himself with his hands on Darui’s chest, C leant forward. “So.”

Darui clapped his hands down on C’s thighs and raised an eye brow at him. “Well?”

“Ready to tell me what it is we’re doing all the way up here?”

Darui took a moment to savour the eager expression on C’s face, his eyes softening. Then he inclined his head to something on their left.

“Over there.”

Dubiously, he sat back on his heels and turned in the direction Darui had indicated.

And he very nearly lost his balance.

While he and Darui had been busy messing around, C hadn’t been paying the least bit of attention to the sky changing around them. The faint glimmer of green outlining the mountain tops had given way to an explosion of colour. The morning sky had lit up in various shades of yellow, orange and pink. Behind the twin mountain peaks east of Kumo the sun was ascending slowly, dyeing the clouds enveloping the hidden village a faint red.

When he squinted, C could just make out the outline of the Raikage Tower blocking out some of the light. Below the tower, some of the village’s streetlights just barely broke through the countless wisps of cloud like a hundred tiny ships navigating the Land of Lightning’s jagged coastlines.

“Like it?” Darui asked.

C hadn’t realised he was spacing out. Slightly embarrassed, he closed his mouth and gave Darui a sheepish grin. However, his attention was still on the sunrise and his gaze soon wandered eastward again.

“It’s… wow,” he breathed, “I don’t know what to say.”

Darui smiled. To him, the sunrise in the mountains had long since lost a good deal of it’s magic. Having climbed this mountain again and again, the amazement had quickly given way to indifference. Still, he remembered being a little kid and absolutely awe-struck the first time he made it to the top in time to watch the sun go up and bathe the mountains in a soft golden glow and seeing C captivated to the point where he was lost for words was it’s own kind of gratification.

“That view…” C’s gaze was still fixed on the horizon. He shook his head in disbelief, the first sunrays catching in his blond hair. “It’s beautiful.”

Darui nodded, his thumbs drew slow, absent-minded circles on C’s legs.

“Yeah, beautiful’s a good way of putting it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: That yank-twist-roll-thing C does is based on a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu move: [the Draculino Bump](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDk_sVb7InI&index=20&list=PLyknAhj6gPvJE1wVYlbZ8jZDclBfi9wtY).
> 
> If the Raikage can have wrestling-based taijutsu then I have no qualms about throwing in moves from whatever martial art just so happens to fit my authorial needs.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel like making my day? Kudos or comments literally only take a second :D
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](https://fantasticallyfoolishidea.tumblr.com).
> 
>  **edit 24/03/19:** You have no idea how excited I am to be making this edit. As of this week, there's fanart for this fic thanks to hyouta! Go check out her blog(s), her art is amazing!
> 
> [electric](https://twitter.com/ACEsahi/status/1108156169670066177) and [chapter 3](https://twitter.com/ACEsahi/status/1109933760827535362) by [hyouta](https://hyouta.tumblr.com)


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